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First Day of School

First day of school! Wake up! Come on. First day of school!! Sorry, I couldn’t help myself from a little Finding Nemo quote, especially since this was pretty much how our first day went. I had my alarm set for 5am and the kiddos came running in at 4:54am telling me to get up! Darn them for not letting me get those last six minutes of sleep.

To say the kids were excited would be an understatement. There was no nervousness and no worries, just pure excitement. The first day of school is always so magical and I will never tire of seeing my babies excitement over learning. Enough rambling and onto the good stuff….the photos.

I still can’t believe my baby, my first born is in 4th grade!
Or that my baby girl is in 1st!
I especially can’t believe my last born is in Kindergarten

Three kids, all in school, full day and it’s still so surreal to me. I knew this day was coming, I’ve been gleefully excited about it and now that it’s here I’m a wee bit sad. My babies are growing up so fast and it’s wonderful and sad at the same time.

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California Teachers Union Putting Our Kids at Risk

California Teachers Union Putting Our Kids at Risk
-Guest Post by Christine Young

As a mom of seven, and a parent of four children in public school here in California, I’m disgusted with how special interest groups like the teachers’ union always put our children last, behind their bloated paychecks and pension benefits.

But, now they’ve gone too far.  Earlier this year, the California Teachers Association killed a bill in the legislature that would have made it easier to fire teachers who are known child molesters! 
It’s almost too hard to believe, right? Well, read for yourself what one Los Angeles area teacher did to his blindfolded students – Associated Press story and how the teachers union conspired to keep perverts like him in the classroom – LA Weekly article.

California isn’t alone in having a teachers union that protects sexual deviants – New York is battling a similar problem.

This is why we need reform like Prop 32, which is on the November ballot in California.  We have to stop the special interest money that keeps these groups powerful and detached from doing what’s best for our children.

Of course the opponents of the measure are spreading lies about how cops, firemen, teachers, et al are against 32, but keep in mind it’s only the union leadership that is against 32.  I know plenty of teachers who don’t like what their union does and certainly don’t want sexual predators in our classrooms!

See for yourself what California Prop 32 will do, it’s very strait forward.
And join our Facebook Group “California Parents for Reform” where we discuss this and other issues facing our schools and families.

Christine Young is the mother and blogger behind FromDatestoDiapers.com, where she shares about life with lots of kids and how to make it fun.

*I am not typically one to talk about politics on here, heck I rarely talk about them online at all or in person with someone because there are so many differing views that sometimes it can seem like an endless circle of debating. But there are exceptions to my rule when it involves children. More specifically the safety of our children. When my family and I made the decision to leave our long time home of California the school system was one of our top reasons for leaving. When Christine mentioned the bill that was shut down by the California Teachers Association I couldn’t believe what I was reading so to help raise awareness on this issue I quickly jumped at her offer to guest post regarding this issue. If you live in California and have school aged children PLEASE read the links above, be informed and be involved!

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Clothes shopping for children

For me half the enjoyment of clothes shopping for my little’s is getting home and trying it all on them. There are so many cute styles out there it can be overwhelming sometimes so I tend to keep it simple and not go overboard. Sometimes that is a little easier said then done, especially if you are shopping with all of your kids so just remember if things seem to be going haywire you can always come back OR you can shop online. 
Sometimes you can get a better deal if you shop online. Many retailers will offer a special discount only good online. And keep your eye out for free shipping offers. If they are running a free shipping offer remember that you can still use an online coupon in addition to the regular promotions going on. 
I took my son shopping out here a few weeks ago and was quite unimpressed with the selection of boys clothes. We did manage to get a new wardrobe but that was after visiting four separate stores. So to avoid the hassle of running all over the place for my daughter I looked online. 
My go to place was The Children’s Place and it just so happened that they were having a free shipping promotion so I knew I would at least be getting the same price as I would in the stores minus the cost of gas. Some of the best times for clothes shopping is as retailers are bringing in new seasonal looks because the prior seasons looks will all be on markdown. Because of this I got items that were normally 15-20% more and I also had a 15% off coupon.
I even snagged this adorable backpack for only $10.80 after their regular sale and coupon. I saved $6.15. We also got the matching lunchbox that I saved $2.88 on.
Here’s a breakdown of what I saved:
Six shirts normally $10.50 each received for $5.10 each 
Lunchbox normally $7.95, received for $5.07
Backpack normally $16.95, received for $10.80
Pintuck shirt normally $19.95, received for $10.20
Two jeans normally $14.00 each, received for $10.20 each
Scarf normally $8.95, received for $5.10
Total savings over $62.00
And that’s not counting the free shipping. 
Now while the wait for the items to come by mail can be hard, especially if you are one of little patience (like I tend to be sometimes) but one thing I have to say about The Children’s Place is they are awesome at getting orders out ASAP. We received our order only four days after placing it online. Told you, awesome! And what fun would it be to look at all these new clothes without having a mini fashion show put on by my daughter. 
So without further ado I would like to welcome baby girl modeling some of her new clothes.

This is my favorite outfit, I think it’s hers too. Can you tell she loves scarfs
 

Little man wanted to get in on some of the action 
  • online black friday

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